Le Cauchemar, 1896, 1m09s
Star Film Catalogue No. 82

In the grip of a nightmare, a man tosses and turns in bed. He imagines a woman sitting at the foot end, clad only in a sheet, but when he reaches out to embrace her, she turns into a blackface minstrel with a banjo, and he reacts in horror, falling back onto the bed. The minstrel leaps up onto the bed and performs a song and dance routine. Unable to stand it any longer, the man grabs him by the shoulders, only to find him turning into Pierrot and the background changing to reveal a moonlit balcony. Pierrot leaps over it and runs away. The man in the moon comes closer and starts biting the would-be sleeper’s hand. He pushes it away, and Pierrot, the minstrel and the woman reappear on the balcony. He wakes up to find himself tangled up in the bedclothes. He puts his bed back together, looking nervously around all the while, before getting back under the covers. - filmjournal.net


Release date
France 1896
Portugal 28 November 2009 (Cinemateca Portuguesa)

Also Known As (AKA)
Le cauchemar France (original title)
A Nightmare USA
A rémálom Hungary


This movie is part of the collection: The Georges Méliès Collection

Director: Georges Méliès
Producer: Georges Méliès
Production Company: Star Film
Sponsor: Gen X
Audio/Visual: silent, black and white
Language: English
Keywords: Gen X; Georges Méliès; Fantasy

Creative Commons license: Public Domain Mark 1.0

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Reviewer: I Am Gen X - - July 28, 2012
Subject: dnice110 Q & A
Hi, dnice110. It's made in 1896 and I donated it to the public domain when I uploaded it. You can see the licenses and what they mean by clicking on them, above. (See "Creative Commons license: Public Domain Mark 1.0") Please post your work so we can all enjoy it. I love this clip, too! - Gen :)

Reviewer: dnice110 - - July 13, 2012
Subject: Checking permission to use
The clip is incredible. I'm looking to verify the CC license to use portions of it in a music video for historical perspective. Please can you verify ownership, etc.

Thank you.
Dayo